You and I Collide
by Mitzia
Summary: Edward and Alphonse save a girl named Maria when her village was burning. After bringing her to a new village, they thought they saw the last of her. Little did they know, Maria was searching for them the whole time. T for violence and language
1. The Dawn is Breaking

"Run away! Get away from here! Hurry!"

The village leaders screamed at the citizens to get them to safety. Of course, no one listened to them. It was every man for himself.

The village was burning in flames and bandits on horses rode through the crowds. They were either being killed by the bandits or the fire.

A small girl tried running through the people on her thin legs. "Mommy! Where are you?" she yelled. No one listened to her cries as they escaped. Tears spilled down her ash covered cheeks as she tried to find her mother.

A rock on the path caused her to trip face first on the dirt path. "Hey little girl," a voice said. The girl turned around to see one of the men terrorizing her village staring down at her. She pushed herself on her elbows and tried to crawl away. Before she could, the man grabbed her by the collar of her brown dress.

"Where do you think you're going? You won't get awa- gah!" The girl fell to the ground. Beside her was the bandit with a large bruise forming on his cheek.

"Don't harass little girls! That's the lowest of the low," a new voice said. The girl turned to her side to see a boy with long blonde braided hair. He wore a red coat with a strange symbol on the back and white gloves. His gold eyes were fiery from determination.

"Who the hell are you?!" the bandit asked harshly. He got up and grabbed the blonde boy by the collar.

"The Fullmetal Alchemist." The blonde kneed the man in the stomach and delivered a hook punch to the jaw. In pain, the man released the Fullmetal Alchemist and struggled to run away. He knew he didn't stand a chance.

"Hahaha! Look at him go!" the blonde laughed.

"Brother! Where are you?!"

A giant suit of armor ran to the boy with many buckets of water in hand. "I'm here. Is everyone out?" the boy asked. The armor nodded and gave the boy some buckets. "We need to hurry."

The girl took a bucket of water as well. "Who are you?" the armor asked.

"M-My name is Maria. Let me help you," the girl said.

"We can't! It's too dangerous," the blonde said.

"We can't just leave her here alone, brother!" the armor yelled.

"Al."

"Here." The armor opened the chest plate and pushed Maria inside.

"Who are you guys?" she asked.

"I'm Alphonse and that's Edward," the armor responded.

Alphonse began running in one direction and throwing the water on some of the nearby fires with Maria bouncing inside.

Edward set the buckets on the ground and clapped his hands together. A spark of light came out as the water rose out from the buckets and onto the fires on higher rooftops. It didn't take long until the village fire died down.

Edward and Alphonse met up soon after. "We're finally done," Edward sighed. Alphonse nodded and opened the chest plate for Maria to fall out of. She giggled as she wiped off the dirt on her face.

"We should take her to the next village. Her parents are probably waiting for her," Edward said. Maria's eyes saddened and Alphonse noticed this.

"What's wrong?" Alphonse asked.

"I don't know where my mommy is," she said.

Edward and Alphonse exchanged glances as the blonde patted Maria's head. "I bet she's looking for you in the village. Come on," he said with a smile.

Maria smiled and Edward picked her up, placing her on his shoulders. She laughed as they walked towards the next village.

It wasn't far away, so they were there within minutes. Outside the village, Edward set Maria down.

"Can you stay here?" the little girl asked innocently.

"We can't. We're looking for something," Alphonse said.

"What?"

"The Philosopher's Stone," Edward said after a long silence. The girl was so young, so telling her their plan couldn't do much harm. She'd probably forget soon after they left.

But she never did.

* * *

**Author's Note**

**...I feel like I'm ruining FMA by writing this story...I don't know why, but I feel like I'm off on the plot...Oh well...I hope you guys enjoyed it! This story will be 3 chapters long.**

**Until next time, sayonara~!**


	2. A Light Shining Through

"Have there been any strange incidents happening lately?"

A tall tan brunette asked a man at a small restaurant a very strange question. "What do you mean by strange?" he asked. He had never seen this girl before. The town he lived in was Genice, a small village that was just outside Eastern Command. Hardly anyone passed by, especially not someone as beautiful as her.

"Have there been any crimes or strange phenomena recently?" she asked.

"What are you, a cop?"

"Just answer my question."

The man looked at the girl's flawless face. Her brown bangs outlined her thin face and her determined narrow black eyes. "Why do you want to know?" he asked.

"I'm looking for something."

"What?"

"The Philosopher's Stone."

The man began laughing at the answer. "What's so funny?" she asked.

"The Philosopher's Stone! That's rich. Hey, I think I saw one down by the river. Go look there," he laughed. It was obvious he was lying about the stone's whereabouts, but the girl knew she was getting nowhere with him. She turned on her heels and left the laughing man.

The girl had been in the town for about a day, asking around about the seemingly mythical jewel. No one gave her any clues whatsoever. Perhaps now was the time to leave for another town.

She walked to the edge of town and saw the rushing flow of water. The girl examined the rocks she passed, knowing she wouldn't find anything. She looked for a shining red rock like in the stories. Only dirt covered and brown rocks were visible.

"Just my luck," she mumbled. She sighed and followed the river downstream, still looking at the rocks just in case.

"Hey guys, look. A person."

The girl turned around to see a group of tough looking men staring at her. "She's not bad on the eyes," one man said, smirking at her body.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"Just some wanderers, lost on the path of life," one cooed, walking closer to the girl.

"I'm sorry, but I can't help you get back on track. Find someone else," she muttered. She turned around again and walked away.

"Hey, hey. Baby, what's wrong?" another asked.

"I'm looking for something."

"I'm looking for something, too. A person to share my love with. How about you, hot stuff?" he asked.

"Fuck off."

"What did you say?"

"I said, fuck off."

The girl turned her head and glared at the man beside her. He looked confused and then returned the look. "No one tells me what to do," he said irritably.

"Just did," the girl said playfully.

The man got really pissed off and swung his fist towards her face. The girl was a fast one and ducked under the arm. As she stood back up, she pushed off her back heel and punched him in the stomach, knocking him over in agony.

"You bitch!" a man yelled.

He got back up hastily and swung punch after punch towards her. His style was very predictable and she dodged each punch. He was about to throw another one, but was stopped and a roundhouse kick met his face and knocked him to the ground once more.

"You think you're so strong, don't you?" a man asked.

"I don't think, I know," she smirked.

"We'll see about that."

The other men got on their knees and clapped their hands together. She was stunned by the act and watched closely. A light flashed in a circle around the men and the ground shook furiously. The girl stumbled about and the dirt moved from under her. Two long spikes formed from the dirt and caught onto her arms, lifting them apart and her off the ground.

"Can't do anything, now can you?" the beat up man laughed.

The girl struggled to release her arms, but the more she did so, the harder it got. It was like she was in quick sand. She couldn't do anything if she wanted to break free.

"What are you going to do now?" they taunted. The girl only moved her arms and glared at them. She couldn't show her weakness, even if there was no point.

"Hey! Let her go!"

The group turned to a short boy with blonde braided hair and a red coat. "Who are you?" the men asked.

The boy smirked and answered. "The Fullmetal Alchemist."


	3. I'm Tangled Up in You

"Fullmetal…"

The self-proclaimed alchemist clapped his hands together and a spark of light pierced the spears. They crumbled and the girl met the ground, landing stealthily like a cat.

"Are you okay?" the alchemist asked. The girl smiled and nodded. They turned their attention to the men and charged.

The girl jumped and spun three hundred sixty degrees, kicking one man in the face before landing. The force knocked him into the river.

The blonde boy uppercut another, knocking him to the ground.

"Brother!"

A suit of armor fell from a high branch of a tree, successfully landing on the last man and knocking him out.

"Hey Al," the alchemist said. The armor got up and walked over to the two fighters.

"They're…tough," the only conscious man said. He slowly rose to his feet. "You'll never find the Philosopher's stone though."

"You know something?!" Fullmetal asked. The girl put a hand on his shoulder and shook her head. The man slowly walked away.

"They don't know anything, Ed. I already asked," the girl said.

"How do you know my name?" the alchemist asked.

"It's me, Maria. Don't you remember? You saved me when my village was burning," the girl said.

Edward and Alphonse had saved many people from burning villages. They stared her down until something clicked.

"The little girl, Maria?" Edward asked. Maria nodded, smiling that her childhood hero remembered her, if only a little bit.

"It's been a while," Alphonse said.

Maria nodded in agreement. She looked at Edward and saw a scratch on an automail arm. "I seem you haven't found the stone yet," she whispered.

The Elric brothers exchanged shocked glances. How did she know about the stone?

"I'm so sorry. Even after all this time, I haven't found it either," Maria said. She looked at her feet and clenched her fists like she was expecting a scolding.

"Why are you looking for it?" Alphonse asked.

"I wanted to help you."

"What?"

"You saved my life all those years ago. I wanted to help save yours."

Edward brought the girl into a hug. "Thank you, Maria. Putting all that time and effort into us really means a lot."

"Brother's right. You haven't gotten hurt looking for the stone, have you?" Alphonse asked.

Maria made a sound to say no. Edward pushed her away, keeping his hands on her shoulders and staring into her brown eyes. "Please stop searching before you do get hurt."

"But I can't!" Maria protested.

"Maria, what'll happen if you get hurt or even die?!" Alphonse asked.

She looked at the suit of armor and thought about her answer. In all the years she searched, her injuries were never life threatening. She didn't really think she'd die searching. "Then I'd search in the afterlife," she said semi confidently.

"Don't be stupid. If you die, saving you all those years ago would have been pointless. Don't throw away the life others saved," Edward said.

Maria was completely speechless. She never though she was throwing her life away, but maybe that's what she was doing. "So…what do I do now?" she muttered.

"Live. Be a wonderful women and live. That would be the best thing for you to do now," Edward said. Alphonse nodded in agreement and Maria looked at the ground.

She had made it her goal in life to find the stone, so she had no desire to live a peaceful life. But since it was her saviors telling her this, she would of course reconsider.

She looked up and nodded. "Alright. I'll return to my village right away then. Thank you for everything, Ed and Al." Maria bowed and turned on her heels, walking about with a stride full of pride.

"Goodbye, Maria," the Elric brothers said. They too left on their own path.

Years later, Maria settled down in her village with a nice man she met upon returning. They were madly in love and Maria lost the will to search for the Philosopher's stone. They had two sons that Maria named.

Edward and Alphonse.

* * *

**Author's Note**

**So this is the end of my first FMA fanfic. I didn't really like how it turned out though, but I guess this is the best I can do with my shitty understanding of FMA...Oh well. ^_^ I hope you enjoyed it!**

**Until next time, sayonara~!**


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